IslandWood Programs
School Overnight Program: The residential School Overnight Program provides life-changing experiences in nature for 4th – 6th grade students and their teachers. Throughout the school year, 4,000 elementary students spend four days exploring the natural environment, led by our graduate students. They experience transformative learning adventures that integrate science, technology, and the arts. Our graduate students also perform outreach to schools to help teachers connect classroom lessons to urban environments, enabling students to see that nature is everywhere.
Homewaters: Our urban program brings science to life through field investigations in schoolyards and nearby natural areas. Throughteacher training, planning, and field support, we engage students in hands-on exploration of ecological and neighborhood issues. We build young people’s understanding and awareness of nature and extend their in-class science learning to authentic experiences in the outdoors.
Brightwater Environmental Education and Community Center: At the Brightwater Environmental Education and Community Center in Woodinville, IslandWood provides experiential School Day Programs for 3rd-8th grade students that supplement classroom curriculum and help students understand the pivotal role people play in our region’s water cycle.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
Generous philanthropic contributions have allowed IslandWood to underwrite high-quality programming for tens of thousands of students and teachers over the last decade. Because of our recent expansion through Homewaters and Brightwater, IslandWood has tripled the numbers of children and teachers we serve annually.
However, there is still much work to be done. Throughout our region and across the country, too many children are growing disconnected from the natural world, even as mounting evidence demonstrates the positive impact that time outdoors can have on a child’s education, health, and sense of responsibility to the planet. Our priority now is to ensure IslandWood becomes a critical part of the solution, especially for underserved communities in schools across the country.
IslandWood is currently launching new programs that will dramatically expand the number of kids and teachers we serve, starting in Seattle. The four initiatives outlined in our
Blueprint for Growth will deepen IslandWood’s investment in urban communities, train more teachers to connect the classroom to the natural world, drive millions of children and families outside, and spark action on critical issues related to education, the environment, and the health of society.
Early investments from our community will help us ensure that these programs become financially self-sustaining within five years. You can read about IslandWood’s
Blueprint for Growth on our website:
www.islandwood.org/blueprint.